Doan leads Coyotes past Maple Leafs

Send a link to a friend  Share

[December 23, 2015]  GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Coyotes right winger Shane Doan could have taken a flier at his second career hat trick Tuesday and no one would have blamed him. Instead, he played to secure a victory.

Doan, who had two goals in 14 seconds in the first period, turned down a shot at an empty net from his end in the final moments, not risking an icing call and an own-zone faceoff in the Coyotes' 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Gila River Arena.

"He had a chance to shoot at the empty net but he couldn't get to the red line, so he did what was right for the team," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said.

"That speaks volumes of who he is."

Doan scored his sixth and seventh goals of the season for a 2-1 lead and assisted on defenseman Connor Murphy's game-winning goal at 13:54 of the third period.

Toronto left winger James van Riemsdyk scored in the first period, center Nazek Kadri tied the game with the only goal of the second period. Van Riemsdyk has 13 points in his last 12 games.

Doan tied the game at 1 on a flukey goal at 15:16 of the first period, and he scored on a rebound 14 seconds later for a 2-1 lead. He has 376 goals, three short of Dale Hawerchuk's franchise record.

On Doan's first goal, defenseman Stefan Elliott threw the puck into the zone from the red line and it caromed off the back boards and out in front of goaltender Jonathan Bernier. Doan backhanded the rolling puck high on the glove side to tie it at 1.

Doan scored again 14 seconds later. Driving in from the left side, Doan hit the right post with a wrist shot. The puck ricocheted off the back of Bernier's left leg and stayed behind him, and Doan poked in the follow to make it 2-1 at 15:30.

"Obviously it's fortunate," Doan said of the first one. "You hit it hard and it hits the crossbar and goes in. And then you try to claim that you did it on purpose. That's one you are trying to hit as it is bouncing."

Doan said he saw his second goal hit the post "and I was looking for it behind him. Got fortunate to get to the net and get your rebound."

Louis Domingue made 37 saves, one on short-handed breakaway and another on a penalty shot, for his second victory in as many starts for the Coyotes. Domingue shut out the New York Islanders, 1-0, in his first start of the season Saturday.

Domingue stopped a short-handed breakaway by center Byron Froese with about a minute left in the period, and he turned aside a penalty shot by left wing Michael Grabner with 5.7 seconds left in the period.

[to top of second column]

Maple Leafs center Shawn Matthias collided with Domingue after releasing a wrist shot and the puck went into the net at 12:58 of the second period, but the goal was waved off because of the incidental contact. Toronto's challenge was denied.

"It was a sloppy game, but he still made the ones he needed to make, and made a lot of them look pretty routine," Tippett said.

Bernier had 23 saves in his second start in as many nights for the Maple Leafs (12-14-7), who were 4-0-2 in their previous six games.

"I thought we did a lot of good things," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "I thought we got better as the game went on. From the 10-minute marl in the second, I thought we were the much better team in the end. That happens some nights."

NOTES: Coyotes defenseman Deron Quint scored two goals in four seconds on Dec. 15, 1995, the NHL record for quickest goals by one player. Doan, a rookie, was on the ice for the first of Quint's goals. ... Arizona C Martin Hanzal (lower body) missed his fifth game in the last six. Hanzal played 15 minutes, five seconds in the 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday after sitting out the previous four games. He is tied for third on the team with 20 points... Coyotes D Zbynek Michalek (lower body) went through practice Monday but missed his fourth straight game. ... Arizona won the first game of the season season series with Toronto, 4-3, when LW Max Domi scored a goal at the Air Canada Centre. Tie Domi, Max's father, played 12 seasons for the Maple Leafs. ... Toronto head coach Mike Babcock is the only coach to have won a Stanley Cup, an Olympic gold medal and a World Championship. He won the letter two leading Canada. ... The Maple Leafs scratches were D Martin Hurwick, LW Rich Clune and third G Garret Sparks.

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Back to top